Everything Everywhere All at Once

Having seen countless raving reviews about this movie both on IMDb, and even more so on Twitter, I thought "damn, I have to go see this ASAP". I went in expecting something incredible, movie of the year standard, but wow was I disappointed.

Literally 75% of the movie is fight scenes, like okay it was cool at the start but 2 hours in and still?? 'Everything Everywhere' is perfect for people with a short attention span because there's always something ridiculous going on. I understood what they were trying to do with the plot but honestly nothing stuck, it just felt shallow.

Don't get me wrong it's not a bad film, but it's nowhere near these 10/10 reviews that's being advertised.

A24 put some great stuff out but this isn't one of them, or I just wasn't in the mood to watch it.

It felt like it should be a series, they cram so much stuff in and it has a slightly budget feel. The leads are excellent, I especially liked the guy from Wayne's World (Casandra's dad, James Hong) and the elements of humour he brings to the film. His parts are about the only ones where the film sits and breaths, the rest is a convoluted mess.

The bombastic fighting was fine as a Kung Fu movie, it feels very much like a Jackie Chan flick and fights have good tension, but then they introduce ridiculous elements like middle aged ladies wrestling, reality warping shoot outs and go overboard with crude outlandish skits as a medium for transporting between realities and amp it up throughout the movie. Kudos for trying to make it work but it just doesn't land and comes across like a terrible Rick and Morty episode. Too eager to be too many things all at once.

I rate it a 5, which it shouldn't be as it's very well produced, original and clearly a lot of talent went into the movie. But the finished product is just punishing to watch.

Ok, the movie contains a lot, a lot. It contains impressive action, drama, SF, humor as well as numerous incredible scenes and shots. I give him a big plus for his incredible originality and idea. However, for me personally, the film was a little too much, to put it that way. In the context of the Oscars, it's also incredible to me that the film picked up so many important awards. Is this the best movie of the year?! Reading numerous reviews and comments, it's clear to me that I'm in the minority and that's why I'm surprised by all the hype surrounding the film. For some, this is even one of the best films ever made. Due to these expectations, I have to admit that the film did not impress me at all. It's not a problem for me to admit that it's up to me and that I can't understand the magnitude of the film, which will obviously be a cult classic tomorrow. But I am surprised that such a strange film won over so many people.

I have trouble turning off my brain. Anxieties, worries, mundane to-dos, even positive things, sometimes feel like they're swirling around in a chaotic funnel cloud and I would like nothing more than to sit in physical and mental silence.

"Everything Everywhere All At Once" felt like the inside of my head. In a world of non-stop, 24/7 news, most of it bad, how is a person like me, who has trouble filtering out things that affect me directly from all of the other things that are just out there happening in general and over which I have no control, supposed to cope?

One answer is to decide that nothing matters anyway and give up caring. But that means deciding that my wife doesn't matter. And that my kids don't matter. And that art, and nature, and things that bring joy to my life, don't matter.

Another way is to decide that some things, ok maybe most things, don't matter, but that there are things that do, and those are the things that make it all worth it. I get to decide what those things are.

The first approach is nihilistic. The second approach is empowering. This film explores both approaches, and I was a sobbing mess at the end.

I will say there were times that I was a bit exhausted by this movie. It throws a lot on the screen and at the viewer, and occasionally it can't keep up with its ambitions. But this was mostly a home run.

Michell Yeoh does terrific work in this, but the MVP is Ke Huy Quan (Short Round from the "Indiana Jones" movies).

Grade: A.

Starting with what I did enjoy about this movie.

1. The setting of this movie was indeed a more accurate representation of an Asian American household. The family dynamics sounds about right. I like that Asians are getting more spotlight.

2. The concept/theme of this movie is rather novel and therefore interesting. Although I think it could have been played out much more sophisticatedly.

3. The parent-child relationship is well portrayed. The perceived lack of validation from parents felt by the child, the poorly communicated love of the parent, the process of gaining awareness and emotional growth for both the parent and child is inspiring.

Things I didn't like 1. It is a very bizarre movie, you could even say chaotic. It's as if they tried to combine every single meaningless detail together and gave up filtering out what's actually worth or necessary to the main plot. Tried too hard to make it funny/original/emotional/relatable that it ends up being neither of those things very well.

2. The movie is also unnecessarily long.

Those two points combined makes this movie just a long, confusing, and sometimes boring mess. The novelty makes it watchable/bearable, but to me, it's nothing more than that.